1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method, system, and program for merging metadata on files in backup storage.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a network backup environment, a client system may backup data in a remote storage device over a network and coordinate the backup with a backup server. For instance, the International Business Machines (“IBM”®) Tivoli® Storage Manager product provides software for a client and server systems to backup client data. (IBM and Tivoli are registered trademarks of IBM). The client transfers files from its file system to the backup server. The backup server maintains a backup database having information on files sent to the backup server stored in a backup storage. The backup server may aggregate files into a backup set and add information on the backup set to the backup database.
The backup set may be stored on sequential media, such as a tape volume or sequential file volume. The backup set may comprise a point-in-time or snapshot backup of client files. The backup server forms a backup set by copying archived files for a client to a backup set object using the active backup files for the client. The backup set may be managed as one object, where the file structure remains within a backup set. Files included in a backup set may expire in the backup storage before a backup set including those same files expire.
To restore data from files at the backup server, the administrator of the client node may query the backup server for information on client files. To restore files from a backup set, the administrator at the client node must separately access and search the backup set for the files of interest and then restore the data from the backup set. Further, backup sets may be transferred to the client node to perform the restore operation from the backup set at the client site.